the old fashioned

we were returning from horicon, wi and my usa collegues asked me to select a place for lunch of my choice...new to the capital city , i browsed and chooses to his highly rated place, right across the capital building.. when we reached it was full and still we managed a table in quick time. ambience was rustic and it seemed to be a very popular place. i choose a wi beer cheese soup with popcorn and the house special 3 types of fish fry with potato edges and bread.my friend settled for mac and cheese pasta with sausges.. soup was nice and fish were fresh.. however the food was average not as per the hype.service was prompt and good.. prices were ok and little on higher side. can be visited once for the repute it has

nice location and decor. quaint. cheese curds were nice and soft almost melting in your mouth. service was a little slow going but not too bad. menus are mismatched as my last page with drinks were different from my wife's. a few of the soft drinks we ordered were no longer available so they should've corrected all menus. the dinner entrees were few but there were plenty of sandwiches to choose from. my wife ordered the mac n cheese with bacon and tasted ok, not great. i ordered the sunday special chicken dinner that came with mashed potatoes & gravy, a sausage dressing, carrots and polenta that was very good all the way around. the reason for my low rating is the "no weapons or firearms" sign at the door. it absolutely amazes me that all but a few states have passed legislation allowing citizens to protect themselves and their families (besides the 2nd amendment right to "bear arms") but some "businesses" wish to do nothing to protect their patrons and take further steps to hinder them from protecting themselves by trying to ban firearms from their establishments. the only weapons banned are those from the good guys. criminals will pay absolutely no attention to these signs and if you notice almost all attacks lately have been in gun-free zones like this. eat here at your own risk as they have no security measures in place in case of attack. violent crime has decreased almost 50% since the mid 90s as concealed carry laws have been passed.

the old fashioned needs to provide better training for their bartenders when dealing with conflict or stressful situations. friday night, after coming in with a large group, a person in our party decided to get water from the dispenser at the end of the bar. although using any part of the bar equipment is probably not in the best judgement; rather than asking our friend to leave, the bartender immediately began yelling at her to leave the premises immediately and shoved her more than once. our friend was apologetic and compliant--she said she was very sorry, it was a mistake, and could she please stay as she organized the event that brought us there. the bartender continued to yell, and so our friend left. the level of aggression the bartender showed was shocking and unwarranted. when we addressed the issue with the manager, we were told that “this is what you can expect when you come in with such a large group” and “bouncers need to push people to get them to leave the bar”. eventually, he admitted that pushing and shouting should not be the first way the bartenders deal with conflict, but said he wasn’t going to address the issue that night.
in light of this, i hope the old fashioned addresses with their employees how to de-escalate rather than react aggressively to missteps taken by customers. i would expect to see a more professionalism demonstrated by both bar staff and managers.
in addition, if “bringing in a large group” warrants the bar staff becoming belligerent and aggressive, perhaps they should also adjust their staffing to accommodate the number of people they serve with less stress.
it is a shame, as both my husband and i are part of organizing large events and have often brought our groups to the old fashioned. we will not be including them in such occasions any longer and would highly urge you to reconsider bring larger groups there as well.

service 3.5
environment 4
food. 3.5
cost. 3.5
it's allways crowded and full we were waiting to be seated nearly 1/2 hr .
this is my 4 th time visit to old fashioned
3 times for dinner n 1 time for breakfast.
we ordered cheese curd with garlic sause and no 35 eggplant sandwiche
cheese curd were awsum very tasty do sure try cheese curd over yere .
eggplant sandwiche was not that great i think the eggplant was not properly cooked.
last time we have tried for breakfast grilled cheese that was gud in taste . though my husband love the burger over yere according to him they serve best burger in madison
but very less options for vegetarians.

best cheese curds on earth. great location right on the square, nice drinks (old fashioned's of course) always a wait for a table because it's so good. love this madison staple! for real tho, the curds. 🙌🏼

great cheese curds the best in wisconsin. the drinks are also great i would suggest the old fashioned it's the best i've ever had. we come here every time we are in madison.

i went to the old fashioned for lunch this week. i had heard good things about it from friends and it did not disappoint. there were a variety of sandwiches and salads on the menu as well as sides, cheese-boards, and a number of entrees for dinner. i had the prime-rib sandwich with onion strings and my dining partner had the reuben and salad. the portions are huge, the prices are reasonable, and the flavors were all delicious! one unusual thing about lunch, was after they seat you at your table, you go up to the bar to order. (similar to an english pub.) runners bring your food to your table. everything we ordered was cooked perfectly and delicious! i couldn't have asked for anything better. i highly recommend the old fashioned.

i had the spicy burger and it was delicious. the old fashioned has the best cheese curds in wi in my opinion!  the paprika sauce is perfectly paired with them.  the grilled cheese sandwich is pretty awesome as well.  while there, you must have an old fashioned as well, yummmm.

i imagine that the overwhelming positive reviews are from people who have not had breakfast at the old fashioned. it might be a fun place for a drink (nothing makes me want to go back to prove this though), but i can't imagine the food would ever be good based on what i just ate. i hope you have something better for me madison.

great cheese curds and walleye. and plenty of beer options. good stuff.

can't wait to come back!. food was delicious! i was visiting and a local recommended this restaurant, and it lived up to it's reviews. cozy, bustling atmosphere centrally located in the city. food and drinks were reasonably priced, and well worth the wait!

hospitality?. the food is good, a little pricy, but good. what got to me was the lack of hospitality. we started off poorly with our driver searching for a parking place while we walked in the cold. when we got to the restaurant, they would not seat is until the final person in our party arrived, despite having a young child with us. between our arrival and our fifth person arriving, people streamed into the restaurant and were seated. once our fifth person arrived, there were no tables and our granddaughter was very upset. we waited where we were told to wait, being jostled by wait staff and patrons. by not seating us, the restaurant missed out on our order of drinks that we would have ordered while waiting. i just didn't feel that my patronage was valued.

also beware that if you arrive in winter, do not take a table in the front half. we literally saw our breath each time the door opened.

what a gem!. waiter was stellar and so very knowledgeable about their beer menu (which was 3 times as long as their food menu). reuben was on special (it was huge) and the double brat was really good too. we tried the cheese curds with garlic aioli and started with the beer cheese soup sprinkled with popcorn. great food, great atmosphere!

maybe we ordered wrong. we went on friday and had their special of fried fish and fries. both of us thought it was only ok. not much flavor at all on the breading.

great food!. have eaten here twice while attending the farmers market, and had breakfast and lunch, both meals were great, and food came out quickly. it can be busy, and might have a wait time, but i though it was well worth it. will be back again!